MRPL to meet BS VI norms well ahead of April 2020 deadline

MRPL has undertaken part of the refinery up gradation process when it was forced to shut down for 31-days in May when severe drinking water crisis gripped the cityJaideep Shenoy | TNN | September 06, 2016, 15:53 IST

Mangaluru: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) will undertake process of converting its refinery at Kuthethur to produce Bharat Stage (BS) VI fuel from BS IV at a cost of Rs 1,810-crore before the union government's deadline of April 1, 2020. The board of ONGC, MRPLs parent company will clear the proposed investment for it is beyond the powers of the MRPL board to do so, noted D K Saraff, chairman, MRPL and CMD of ONGC Ltd.

MRPL has undertaken part of the refinery up gradation process when it was forced to shut down for 31-days in May when severe drinking water crisis gripped the city. DK district administration had placed curbs on industries including MRPL lifting water from their dedicated weir to mitigate the crisis. "MRPL has met part of the requirement to produce BS VI compliant diesel during the shutdown and this product could be rolled out by March 2017," Saraff said.

MRPL is on track to complete rest of the refinery up gradation by September 2019, Saraff said adding he company will need at least a couple more months to flush and keep its products tanks ready to receive the new product and start its dispatch to consumers. However, producing BS VI compliant petrol will take some more time, he admitted adding the company is confident of accomplishing this by July to September, 2019 ahead of April 2020 roll out.

Incidentally, if union minister for transport Nitin Gadkari had tweeted to indicate to the nation about the April 2020 BS VI deadline, Dharmendra Pradhan, minister for petroleum and natural gas had stated that major parts of India will be covered by BS IV norms by April 2016 and remaining by April 2017. Since there is not much difference between BS V and BS VI norms, the ministry favoured switching over directly to BS-VI from BS-IV and skip BS V altogether.

EXPANSION OF CAPACITY

MRPL is also seriously mulling about expanding refinery capacity from present 15 million metric tonnes to 18MMT or 21MMT and beyond. "We are deliberating about the pros and cons of the proposed expansion for it has different financial implications, different returns, and timeframes, he said. The land for the proposed expansion has been identified and money paid to authorities concerned for acquisition, he said adding the entire process is progressing satisfactory.

“To save the environment and to fight climate change, my government has planned a major campaign. By 2022, we want to generate 175 GW of renewable energy. In the last three years, we have already achieved 60 GW or around one-third of this target,” he said.